Today marks the exact one-year anniversary of Ryan Bloom’s debut here at Gaming Illustrated. He quickly ascended from reviewer to Associate Editor thanks to his technical proficiency and hardcore dedication. Over the last year, Ryan’s work has been absolutely phenomenal and frankly, an inspiration not just to myself but for the whole team.

If you don’t know Ryan all that well, let me tell you, he’s a great guy. I remember the first time we met, we had a burger over at The Counter and clicked right away. He’s very personable, sharp and insightful. On top of that, Ryan’s a great guy too. With his background (he actually has a prestigious education in journalism) and passion for the industry, I knew right away that Ryan was a perfect fit to be an Associate Editor, and that decision was literally the best one I made for Gaming Illustrated in the last five years.

It’s been a pleasure and frankly, an honor to have Ryan within the stable of Gaming Illustrated writers and I know his future his supernova-bright. His constant grinding getting news up just about every single day has saved our collective asses more than once. A year ago, I had the goal to “never break the chain” to make sure the site was updated once a day, minimum. It was my most important goal and without Ryan’s constant help and dedication, it never would have happened. For that, he has my eternal gratitude.

Ryan Bloom has been the foundation and rock for Gaming Illustrated and our team to lean on over the last year. He’s a hero because he comes in day in and day out to bring the goods every single day. Without Ryan, this site would be nowhere near as amazing as it has been over the last year and for that, I wanted to say thank you to him. I’m thrilled he’s going to be going to E3 and interact with this industry because I know one day he’s going to be a star and this is just the start of something huge for him.

Ryan Bloom is a hero. And Dikembe Mutombo is not dead, but only because THE Ryan Bloom said so.

Sean Gibson was the founder of Gaming Illustrated and served as Executive Editor and lead reviewer from 2002 to 2014. He no longer is affiliated with Gaming Illustrated, but remembers his time with the site fondly.